Partnering to Revolutionize the Laundry Category: Tide Pods®

Tide Pods is on track to becoming a $500 million dollar brand in its first year…while still only available in one market. It also represents an important C+D relationship, with MonoSol of Indiana.

P&G and MonoSol began working together over a decade ago on Ariel Excel Liquitabs in Europe. The success with Ariel led to further collaboration on Cascade Action Pacs and Tide Boost Duo Pacs, and ultimately to Tide Pods. The challenges of Tide Pods were different from previous projects: three different cleaning solutions are encased in separate chambers in each pac, all of which need to remain separate until fully immersed in water. Additionally, the film surrounding the cleaning solutions had to be designed to dissolve in a range of water temperatures, from hot to cold. And it needed to dissolve completely so no residue would remain.

In order to fully enable the project to flourish, the MonoSol and P&G teams had to function as one. P&G brought a deep history of cleaning and surfactants, while MonoSol brought the world’s leading experience in water-soluble film delivery systems. The chemistry behind Tide Pods grew out of the close collaboration between the companies. The film and detergent are chemically designed to work together; the film is formulated to live harmoniously with the product until it is dissolved in the wash. The chemistry involved is so intertwined that any change, however small, to the internal components would necessitate a shift in the film makeup as well. Developing the sophisticated chemistry to enable this product took years of work, and resulted in patents pending for both MonoSol and P&G.

In recognition of their partnership, MonoSol was awarded the 2012 C+D Partner of the Year award.